Graduate School Grant

For students that want the opportunity to go to graduate school or achieve their graduate certificate, doctorate, masters or other graduate degree from university or college, the high cost of graduate school education can make getting your degree and achieving your dreams financially difficult. Fortunately, there are numerous sources of grants, scholarships and other funding opportunities available. These can relieve your financial worries so you can concentrate on your schooling. Students seeking graduate degrees have completed their undergraduate degree and often immediately enroll in a graduate degree. Others have entered into the career world mid career and have families but decided to return and finish their schooling and obtain a doctorate, master's degree or a graduate certificate. The same federal student grants, scholarships and loans are available today as they were years ago, plus several new ones. For government grant information, visit US Government information site on Grants. There are the Perkins Loan, Graduate Stafford Loan and the Federal Graduate/Professional Plus Loan but there are also many scholarships and grants that you do not pay back.

Universities, colleges, and organizations often award graduate school grants in specific areas of study such as microbiology, with grants awarded by the American Society of Microbiology Minority Fellowships. Minority students in graduate programs will find there are many grant programs offering funding especially for graduate students studying in areas that normally have very few minorities. The American Indian Graduate Center Fellowships has many grants, loans and fellowships for service to Alaska Native and American Indian graduate and undergraduate students. Some of the private fellowships such as the AIGC or American Indian Graduate Center administers to graduate students. The Dr. George Blue Spruce Fellowship was created to help increase the number of American Indian dentists. Other grant programs that offer graduate school grants and funding include the Black Collegian Organization, the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc., and Cornell University Graduate School Fellowships for Minorities.

There are numerous loans available through the federal government for graduate studies. Several non-traditional sources of funding such as online studies help graduate students that find it difficult to attend a traditional university or college. The adult programs offered by the University of Phoenix provide grants such as Project REACH. This tuition grant focuses on recruiting teachers and retaining teachers in disadvantaged, low-income areas. Responding to Educational Communities with High Needs, also called Project 'REACH', works with the University of Phoenix's ground and online campuses and low income, high need districts and schools in American Samoa, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona. The Project REACH award is over two and a half million dollars over a five-year period. Awarded to the University of Phoenix by the Department of Education, this tuition grant was one of seven regional and national recipients. For these education scholarships, recruitment will target paraprofessionals, recent graduates, mid career professionals, local community substitute emergency certified teachers and retired military with bachelor's degrees.

Resources:

• American Indian Graduate Center
• Project REACH
• Grants.gov